The Queen's Bastard - Hardcover

Maxwell, Robin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1559704756 ISBN 13: 9781559704755

Publisher: Arcade Publishing, 1999

Synopsis

A rich evocation of 1588 England follows the adventures of Arthur Dudley, the illegitimate child of Elizabeth I, who is presumed dead by his real parents and who only learns of his true identity at his adoptive father's death. By the author of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn. 40,000 first printing. Tour.

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Reviews

Maxwell's second novel (after The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn) breathes extraordinary life into the scandals, political intrigue and gut-wrenching battles that typified Queen Elizabeth's reignAas seen through the eyes of Arthur Dudley, the man who may have been the illegitimate progeny of the Virgin Queen and her beloved Master of the Horse, Robin Dudley. Arthur's first-person narration is cleverly juxtaposed with third-person dramatization of significant events in the queen's life, bringing an intricate authenticity to the possibility that Elizabeth gave birth to a bastard son. Maxwell's research examines the biographical gaps in, and documented facts about, the queen's life, making this incredible tale plausible, and the author aptly embellishes her story with rich period details and the epic dramas of the late 16th century. Switched at birth with a baby's corpse by a lady-in-waiting who foresaw the disastrous political consequences of a royal bastard, the infant is raised in the English countryside, where he is abused by his adoptive mother. Only his adoptive father, Robert Southern, knows his true background, and it is only when Southern lies dying that he reveals the secret to Arthur. The circumstances leading to Arthur's reunion with his father and finally his mother range from the young man's military training in Wales and encampment in the Netherlands to his post as a spy in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, all played out against the backdrop of England's defeat of the Spanish Armada. The novel falters only with an abundance of references to Anne Boleyn's diary (coy allusions to the author's first novel), but this minor affectation defuses none of the powerfully lascivious intersections of sexual and international politics that, combined with Maxwell's electrifying prose, here make for enthralling historical fiction.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In Maxwell's first novel, The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn (1997), Queen Elizabeth discovered her beheaded mother's diary with its injunction, ``Never relinquish control to any man.'' The Virgin Queen did not take this advice entirely to heart, according to this sequel tailor-made for moviegoers now delighting in Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love. The novels premise is plausible enough for the genre: As the Spanish Armada prepares to invade England in 1588, the young queen takes as her lover Robin Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and they conceive a son. Born amid fury of storm and flush of lightning, Arthur Dudley lives but is switched at birth with a stillborn child and raised as a country gentleman; Elizabeth thinks him dead. Can she and Robin have another? ``No, my love,'' the queen tells him. ``That was the child with which destiny gifted us and saw fit to withdraw.'' ``Then I defy destiny!'' Robin cries, his voice ringing to the highest heavens of historical fiction as he crushes Elizabeth to him. Their passion for each other is lifelong, but they do not have another child. Meanwhile, Arthur grows to manhood deeply in love with horses; eventually, his romantic dreaminess leads him to Spain, where he's imprisoned and narrowly escapes death by auto-da-f. Does Elizabeth ever meet her adult son? Can a writer skip an obligatory scene? Thundering dialogue supporting plot upon plot. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Maxwell's second novel is a sequel that, like The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn (LJ 3/15/97), posits a historically unlikely but interesting premise. The reader is asked to believe that Queen Elizabeth I gave birth secretly to a boy, Arthur, son of Robin Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and that loyal servants tricked these parents into thinking their baby was stillborn. To save the queen's honor, Arthur was spirited away and raised by a trusted country gentleman. The story moves effectively from the royal court, where Elizabeth continually thwarts Dudley's proposals of marriage, to the country, where Arthur, ignorant of his lineage, grows to be an excellent horseman and cavalry officer. Set against the historical backdrop of England's antipathy with Spain over its brutal war against the Dutch, the novel provides authentic details of hardships endured both by soldiers and towns under siege. Although created out of "what if" whimsy, the book is well-researched and laced with plausible dialog and absorbing narrative. The success of Maxwell's first book and a revived interest in the Elizabethan age make this novel highly recommended for fiction collections.ASheila M. Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Arcade Publishing
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1559704756
• ISBN 13: 9781559704755
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448